Critical surgery revives two patients who were almost brain-dead

The patients had stopped breathing and their hearts were not functioning when they were brought in to the hospital. Even the pupils of these patients were not reacting to the light. They were on the second stage of brain death, where the heart stops pumping blood

Two patients who were almost brain-dead had been admitted to a Pune hospital and were brought back to life with timely help and effective consecutive surgeries.

These patients were on the second stage of brain death, where the heart stops pumping blood. However, with neuro-surgeries the clots of these patients were removed and they are now are alive again and have gained control of their faculties.

In the first of the two cases, Sunaina Bhatia, a 35-year-old woman was presented to Columbia Asia Hospital Pune, on the verge of suffering a cardio respiratory arrest because of a brain tumour.

While in the other case, Arshan Usmani, a 21-year-old man who was almost brain-dead due to a severe head injury caused by a road accident.

Both the patients had stopped breathing and their hearts were not functioning when they were brought in to the hospital. Even the pupils of these patients were not reacting to the light.

Explaining Bhatia’s criticality, Dr Pravin Survashe, Consultant, Neurosurgeon, Columbia Asia Hospital, Pune said, “The patient was almost brain-dead when we took her in for surgery. The emergency CPR ensured that oxygenated blood continued to flow into the brain and heart giving us precious minutes for further diagnosis. Despite the risks, such as memory loss or paralysis that the surgery might have caused, we immediately operated the nearly brain-dead patient for removing the brain tumour. Even a slight delay of 10 to 15 minutes would have been fatal for her life.”

Doctors said through an eight-hour long operation, the deep seeded tumour was successfully removed without any damage to the surrounding brain tissue. The patient regained consciousness the very next day. Surprisingly, her memory, speech and other brain functions were completely intact and normal.

While explaining about Usamani’s case, Survashe added, “He was suffering from extradural haemorrhage on right side of the brain. Bleeding inside the skull caused the formation of an intracranial blood clot, causing an increase in pressure inside the skull which might have led to permanent brain damage and even death. An emergency surgery was quickly and methodically conducted, and the clot was removed within 20 minutes of the patient arriving at the hospital. Time was of utmost importance in this case, as any further delay of even a second would result in death of thousands of neurons, and would have greatly decreased the chances of survival.”

Dr Amit Dhakoji, a neurologist from Sahyadri hospital in Pune, said, “Once the tumour grows and becomes big, it becomes life threatening. It is good that the doctor preferred giving CPR first and then operated upon the patient. Also, extradural haemorrhage is not very rare, but it can be fatal if timely and effective treatment is not provided.”